A Pink BracketBuster 8: The Wedding Edition
by PRWASeasonTwo
Summary: It's March, so that means all your favorite characters from the Pink BracketBuster Universe are back for March Madness once again. This time, while everyone isn't picking in pairs and it's everyone for themselves, some real nice wedding/honeymoon/anniversary presents await. Plus, Tommy puts his jinx to the ultimate test and another ex-Ranger and Arizona alum lurks. PBB Universe.
1. 1: Selection Sunday Reaction

A/N: Hey, what do you know, it's March once again, ladies and gentlemen. And you know what that means, it's time for Pink BracketBuster No. 8. Call it the honeymoon/wedding/anniversary edition if you like. Couples teamed up in a previous one for a cruise, but this one involves honeymoons/anniversary trips, and other prizes as well.

A/N 2: I own nothing. PBB Universe belongs to psav2005, and I don't own the Suite Life or Power Rangers universes either. Just to remind you of who roots for what team:

**UCLA: Tommy, Jason, Rocky, Aisha**

**Florida: Kimberly**

**USC: Zack Taylor, Trini, Adam, Tanya**

**Stanford: Hayley, Billy, Kat, Justin, Ethan**

**UNLV: Andros, Ashley, Zhane, Karone**

**Oregon: Carlos, Cassie**

**Washington State: TJ**

**Gonzaga: Crystal**

**BYU: Lindsey**

**Nevada: Trent, Kira**

**Long Beach State: Conner**

**San Diego: Chelsea**

**Cal State Fullerton: Jen Jackson (soon to be James)**

**Cornell: Anton**

**St. Mary's: Elsa**

**San Diego State: Cassidy, Devin**

**Syracuse: Ernie**

**Arizona State: Lt. Stone**

**New Mexico: Bulk**

**Maryland: Skull**

**Arizona: Eric, Wes**

**Bowling Green: Phil**

**Nebraska: Melissa**

**Yale: Cody, Bailey**

**UConn: Zack Martin, Maya, Woody, Addison**

**St. John's: London, Marcus**

Chapter 1: Selection Sunday Reaction

**March 15, 2014**

**3:00 p.m. PST**

**The Juice Bar**

**Angel Grove, CA**

After a whole weekend of waiting, a potential historic moment was possibly set to occur.

"**Good evening, everyone, and welcome to the 2015 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament Selection Show. I'm Greg Gumbel along with my partners Seth Davis, Doug Gottlieb and Clark Kellogg and we are here to reveal the teams who will compete in the 2015 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament."**

With that, the crowd gave a loud cheer, but there was an added amount of tension.

That's because a potentially historic moment was at hand; ever since the creation of this tournament, either UCLA or Florida had been in the field every single year. With Florida stuck in a rut this year, that left UCLA, who was squarely on the bubble after losing Friday in Las Vegas to Arizona.

The bar was closed for the day, and even though the East Coast Eight couldn't be there, Tommy had set up a Skype chat for this occasion. Bailey still had classes at Yale that week, thus Cody and Bailey were emanating from New Haven, but the majority of the gang was on spring break.

"Are you nervous, because I am," Rocky said.

"Yeah, Florida had a terrible year but if we don't get in, that will ruin everything," Tommy said.

"**Let's begin to reveal the brackets from the NCAA and its corporate champion AT&amp;T," **Gumbel said.** "We begin with the Midwest region and as most would figure the top overall seed is…the Kentucky Wildcats, undefeated at 34-0, six wins away from becoming the first college basketball team to go undefeated since Indiana in 1976."**

Not surprisingly, the mention of Kentucky got resounding boos from around the room and on Skype. Everybody respected their accomplishments, but everyone also wanted them to lose very badly. In fact, that was the one thing that everybody in the room agreed on.

"**Kentucky obviously the top seed overall, and the top seed in the Midwest, with its region finals in Cleveland, will meet the winner of a First Four matchup Tuesday night in Dayton between the Hampton Pirates and the Manhattan Jaspers. That matchup will be Thursday in Louisville," **Gumbel said. **"The eight seed in this bracket are the Bearcats of Cincinnati, 22-10 out of the American Conference and they will face off against the Purdue Boilermakers of Matt Painter, 21-12 out of the Big 10, also Thursday in Louisville."**

It wouldn't be long before the first PBB school was called.

"**Moving on, these are Friday/Sunday games at Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio. The five seeded West Virginia Mountaineers out of the Big 12 will tangle with the Buffalo Bulls of the Mid-American Conference, and the 4th seeded Maryland Terrapins of the Big 10 will meet the Valparaiso Crusaders of the Horizon League,"** Gumbel said.

"Man, we get back in and we get that?" Skull said. "Valparaiso's a tough matchup, then either West Virginia or Buffalo. We'd better be on our Ps and Qs for both of those."

"Yeah, I can't lie to you, I'm pulling for the Big 10 there, but I was not impressed with Maryland when they played the Huskers this year," Melissa Blanks said, hair bobbing up and down. "We were horrible this year and we still almost beat you guys twice. I don't see Maryland going very far."

"**Now, these matchups Friday/Sunday games in Omaha, Nebraska. The seventh seed Wichita State Shockers out of the Missouri Valley Conference, 28-4, will meet the Indiana Hoosiers, 20-13 from the Big 10. The second seeds are…the Kansas Jayhawks, 26-8 from the Big 12 and they will face the Aggies of New Mexico State, out of the Western Athletic Conference at 23-10," **Gumbel said. The mention of the Aggies earned boos from Bulk, the first team not named Kentucky to get jeered.

"Typical; the tournament sticks us with Wichita State. Of course they do, right as Perry Ellis gets hurt and our entire team cannot throw a pea in the ocean," Bailey said over Skype. "I was dreading this. We'll never hear the end of it from bandwagon Shocker fans if they beat us. And they have a chance."

"Yeah, I don't envy you," Maya said via Skype. "That's going to be a real tough game. Wichita State's been through the wars all year with Northern Iowa."

"Yeah, that'd be like OU or OSU losing to Tulsa and having to hear from Golden Hurricane fans the whole year," Hayley said. "I grew up in Tulsa and Golden Canes fans like to run their mouths…a lot."

"Just beat the dumb Aggies, OK?" Bulk said. "Don't be the team that loses to a 15 and especially not those guys."

"Yeah, hopefully they take care of business but this smells like another early exit," Bailey said.

"**To finalize this region, these are Thursday/Saturday games in Pittsburgh. The sixth seeded Butler Bulldogs, 22-10 of the Big East, they'll meet the 11 seed Texas Longhorns of the Big 12, 20-13," **Gumbel said. The mention of Texas earned boos from both Melissa and Hayley, who shared an upside down hook 'em horns hand signal to boot. **"And the third seeded Notre Dame Fighting Irish, winners of the ACC Tournament last night at 29-5 will face the Northeastern Huskies of the Colonial Athletic Conference, at 23-11."**

"Is Kentucky even going to have a scrimmage in that bracket?" Eric complained. "What a lousy bracket that is. They already beat Kansas by 100, the third seed is Notre Dame, and the fourth seed is Maryland? Please!"

"Yeah, rolled out the red carpet for sure," Kim said. "I'd have liked to see Kentucky and Wisconsin in Cleveland. Then Kentucky would at least have to break a sweat before the Final Four."

"Texas and Notre Dame on Saturday, could they put two more arrogant schools together if they tried?" Hayley said. "I can't believe I gotta root for Notre Dame now."

"There is a way to relieve that, you know," Melissa said. "Go Butler!"

"In all seriousness though, Notre Dame's the second best team in that bracket," Jason said. "What a joke."

"**Back to reveal the South bracket with its regional finals in Houston, and the second No. 1 seed is…the Duke Blue Devils of Coach Mike ****Krzyzewski, they went 29-4 this year. They will begin in Charlotte, North Carolina and will face the winner of a First Four game Wednesday night between North Florida and Robert Morris," **Gumbel said. The announcement of Duke as the second 1 earned cheers from Conner; raucous boos from everyone else especially the Arizona crowd.

"**Also Friday/Sunday in Charlotte, the 8 seeds in this bracket are the San Diego State Aztecs of Steve Fisher, 26-8 on the season and made it to the Mountain West tournament final last night. Their opponents are the St. John's Red Storm, at 21-11," **Gumbel said.

"Well, looks like we've got a long journey ahead of us," Cassidy said. "Charlotte, huh? Wonder if we'll meet Ric Flair."

"London and I will try to get tickets; don't know if we'll make it but we'll sure try," Marcus said via Skype.

"In all seriousness, no offense Marcus but I'm more concerned about SDSU than I am about St. John's. SDSU can do things to hurt Duke," Conner said.

"**Now these are Thursday Saturday games in Portland, Oregon; the 5 seeds are the Runnin' Utes of Utah from the Pac-12 at 24-8 and they will face the Lumberjacks of Stephen F. Austin, 29-4 and winners of the Southland Conference tournament title," **Gumbel said. There were no boos from Lindsey Stewart, surprisingly, as a matter of fact she had a devilish grin on her face. **"The 4th seed in this bracket is the Georgetown Hoyas of the Big East and they will meet the Eastern Washington Eagles of the Big Sky at 26-8."**

"Lindsey, why are you smiling?" Justin said. "You hate Utah, right?"

"Of course I do, silly," Lindsey said. "But they got the perfect opponent to take them out, Stephen F. Austin. I'm going to sit back and enjoy watching the Lumberjacks chop them down Thursday."

"You know what, I kind of agree with her," Jason said. "Austin is a tough team who got to the second round and gave us a game for a while. Also played Northern Iowa very tough earlier this year. I won't be surprised to see them in the sweet 16."

"**On to Seattle for Thursday/Sunday games, the 7 seeds are the Iowa Hawkeyes, 21-11 of the Big 10 and they will face the Davidson Wildcats, 24-7 of the A-10," **Gumbel said.** "The 2 seeds are the Gonzaga Bulldogs of Coach Mark Few and they will face 15 seed North Dakota State, 23-9 of the Summit League."**

"Man, North Dakota State as a 15? Who the hell came up with that idea? And then if we win it's either Davidson again or a hot Iowa team," Crystal said. "NDSU, they beat OU last year and now we gotta play em? Committee really stuck it to us this time."

"**Now, these are Thursday/Saturday games in Louisville. The six seeds are the SMU Mustangs of the American Conference, 27-6 and coached by Larry Brown. And they will meet…the UCLA Bruins of the Pac-12, coached by Steve Alford and 20-13 for the year," **Gumbel said. The UCLA announcement was met with thunderous cheers from the UCLA four, raucous boos from every other Pac-12 alum in the room while the UConn four booed the SMU announcement; it was SMU that had beat UConn in the American tourney finals that very day. **"And the three seeds are the Iowa State Cyclones, 25-8, coached by Fred Hoiberg and fresh off a second straight Big 12 tournament championship and they will meet the UAB Blazers of Conference USA at 19-15."**

"You gotta be kidding me!" Wes said. "UCLA got in, really?"

"Hate to agree with a fan of that school in Tucson, but 100 percent correct," Stone said. "You four got a gift, enjoy it. The streak continues, much as it pains."

"Yeah tell me about it. Colorado State won 27 games this year; if they don't get in but UCLA does this is a joke," Cassidy said.

"Won't matter when Iowa State beats either them or SMU," Justin said, feeling a little better now that he saw teams that could beat UCLA.

"Yeah but come on Justin, they didn't even get a first four game! Just went right on through," Ethan said. "What a joke."

Meanwhile, Wes and Eric have a look of concern on their faces.

"You don't think they'll screw us over do you?" Eric said.

"I don't know but I have a bad feeling, bro," Wes said. "If Villanova gets this top seed we're screwed."

"**Now to reveal the East bracket with its region finals in Syracuse, these are Thursday/Saturday games in Pittsburgh," **Gumbel said.** "And the third No. 1 seed is…the Villanova Wildcats of the Big East at 32-2 coached by Jay Wright and winners of the Big East regular season and tournament titles and they will meet the 16 seed Lafayette Leopards of the Patriot League, at 20-12. Also in Pittsburgh, the 8 seed is the NC State Wolfpack of the ACC at 20-13 and they will meet the LSU Tigers of the SEC at 22-10."**

"**Now, in Seattle for Friday/Sunday games, the 5 seeds are the Northern Iowa Panthers of the Missouri Valley Conference, 30-3 and winners of that conference tournament and they will take on the 12 seed Wyoming Cowboys, surprising winners of the Mountain West conference tournament," **Gumbel said. The announcement of Wyoming drew mild boos from Cassidy and Devin; it was Wyoming who had beat San Diego State for the Mountain West tourney title last night. **"The 4 seeds are the Louisville Cardinals of the ACC and they will face the 13 seed Anteaters of UC-Irvine of the Big West at 21-12."**

"Northern Iowa is going to destroy Wyoming," Devin said.

"Yep, just to show how much of a fluke that run was," Cassidy said.

"**These are Friday/Sunday games in Charlotte," **Gumbel said. **"The Michigan State Spartans, 23-11, who played in the Big 10's tournament title game today earn the 7 seed and they will face off against 10 seed Georgia, 21-11 from the SEC. The 2 seeds are the Virginia Cavaliers of the ACC at 29-3, and they will meet the Belmont Bruins, 22-10, winners of the Ohio Valley tournament title."**

"**Now, Friday/Sunday matchups in Columbus; the third seeded Oklahoma Sooners of the Big 12 will face off against the 14 seed Great Danes of Albany from the America East conference. And the 6 seed Providence Friars of the Big East will meet the winner of a First Four game in Dayton Wednesday night between Boise State and Dayton," **Gumbel said.

"Man, stick us with North Dakota State last year and stick us with Albany this year, and they almost beat Florida!" Hayley said. "Talk about a tough 14 seed."

"Win that first game though and Oklahoma can get to the second weekend," Jason said. "Providence isn't that tough and Dayton's going to lose one of those first two games."

"Michigan State over Virginia in round 2," Trini said.

"Aren't you the one who picked UVA to win it all last year?" London said over Skype.

"Guilty as charged," Trini said. "And they would have been my pick most of this year except that Justin Anderson got hurt and they're having to deal with Belmont then MSU. Bad draw plus injury means they go home early."

"I want you to be wrong because ACC but yes that may very well happen," Conner said. "They are not the same team Duke played earlier this year."

"And UCI?" the soon to be Chelsea McKnight asked (they were getting married in June)

"Going home first game, Louisville's gonna crush em," Conner said.

"Man, this almost certainly means Arizona and Wisconsin again," Wes said. "How stupid can this committee be?"

"I almost think the NCAA is lazy, either that or there's a constant effort to benefit East teams and ESPN," Stone said. "I hate to agree with you both, Fork 'em Devils and all, but Arizona's getting jammed here, very badly. Not that I'm totally upset but I can't stand stupidity and this is stupid."

"I used to think like Edge, that Michael Cole was the personification of stupidity, but I think he's been replaced by the NCAA. At least Cole has the Wrestling God to check him," Cody said over Skype. "We're on spring break so I've been watching a lot of basketball. Arizona is without question the second best team in the country to me at least."

"The weird thing is that with our stupid academic calendars at Yale that he got a month off while I get nothing!" Bailey said. "Our spring break for the medical school is for first and second year students only. Wilfred had been running his mouth about flying us to Vegas since we just turned 21 for spring break but I have classes."

"Wow, that is totally stupid," Kimberly said. "At Florida, we had nothing like that."

"I'll tell you what's really stupid, that it looks like Colorado State may not get in. 27 wins and looks like no bid. Unreal," Devin said.

"**Back to reveal our fourth and final region, the West Region with its region finals in Los Angeles. Here are Friday/Sunday games in Omaha. The fourth and final top seeds are the Wisconsin Badgers of the Big 10, winners of both regular season and conference tournament titles," **Gumbel said. **"They will face off with the Chanticleers of Coastal Carolina, 24-9 from the Big South. The 8 seeds are the Oregon Ducks of the Pac-12, 25-9 and they'll meet Oklahoma State of the Big 12, coming in 18-13."**

These announcements got some of the most polarizing reactions of the Selection Show; Wes and Eric booed the Wisconsin announcement but only mildly as they knew the Wildcats would have to go through Wisconsin anyways and their vitriol was not aimed at Wisconsin itself.

Meanwhile, the Oklahoma State/Oregon announcement got simultaneous boos and cheers; boos from Hayley at the announcement of OSU and cheers from Carlos and Cassie at the Oregon announcement, along with boos from most of the other Pac-12 schools.

"**Now for Thursday/Saturday games in Jacksonville; the 4 seeds are the North Carolina Tar Heels of Roy Williams, who come in at 24-11 and will face the Harvard Crimson, coming in at 22-7," **Gumbel said. This matchup drew all kinds of boos; the first from Conner at the UNC announcement and then very loud boos from Cody and Bailey at the Harvard announcement as Harvard was not only a major rival but had beaten Yale in a one game playoff last night to advance to the Dance. **"The 5 seeds are the Arkansas Razorbacks, at 26-8 from the SEC and they'll meet Wofford, 28-6 of the Southern Conference."**

"As much as I hate it those idiots are probably going to beat UNC and make it to the Sweet 16," Bailey sighed. "Stupid, stupid, stupid Harvard."

"Yeah, I have to agree there, and not just because I'm a Duke fan," Conner said. "UNC's not a great shooting team and if you keep Paige contained you can beat them. Amaker's a Duke guy as well so kind of rooting for him."

"Ugh, us root for Harvard? No way," Cody said.

"**Now for Thursday/Saturday matchups in Portland, the 7 seed Virginia Commonwealth Rams of the Atlantic 10, at 26-9 will take on the Big 10's Ohio State Buckeyes, seeded No. 10 at 23-10," **Gumbel said. The Ohio State announcement, as usual, got plenty of jeers in the room.

"**The 2 seeds meanwhile are the Arizona Wildcats, winners of the Pac-12 regular season and tourney titles and they will face 15 seed Texas Southern at 22-12," **Gumbel said. That earned cheers from Wes and Eric but only mild cheers, in their minds they were stalking bigger game than just a two seed.

"**And in Jacksonville, Florida on Thursday and Sunday, the 3 seeds are the Baylor Bears of the Big 12 at 24-9 and they'll meet the winner of the Sun Belt conference tournament, the Georgia State Panthers, also at 24-9," **Gumbel said. **"And to round out the bracket, the six seeds the Xavier Musketeers will meet the winner of a First Four game Tuesday night between 20-12 Ole Miss of the SEC and 25-9 BYU of the West Coast Conference."**

Immediately after the brackets were announced the room descended into complete mayhem for a few moments.

"You guys going to Portland?" Crystal said as she walked up to Wes and Eric.

"Would love to, but don't know if we can get off Silver Guardians business," Eric said. "If I had to wager I'd say probably not. It's not a hop, skip and jump up to Portland like it was to San Diego last year or Vegas for the tourney last week."

"True it isn't," TJ said. "I normally wouldn't take a couple of Pac-12 fans not named Wazzu to a tournament game, but since I think Arizona got jammed I'd be willing to relent. We're going to Seattle so let us know. You'll be in Staples when Arizona makes it right?"

"Oh yeah, we'll be there if and when the team makes it out of Portland," Wes said.

"I'm going to Omaha for the games there and taking Carlos and Cassie with me, so have fun in Seattle," Melissa said.

"Wish I could be there too for the Kansas games, but of course, stupid Yale and stupid classes," Bailey said.

"All right, everyone listen up!" Jason and Tommy said as they came out with the brackets. "Guys, did you receive yours? We just sent an email."

"Yeah we got em," Bailey said.

"Same over here, got them all," Zack Martin said.

"Same over here," Marcus said.

"I think everyone who's done this knows the rules and the deadlines, but as usual we do have some very cool prizes on tap this year," Tommy said.

"As everyone knows, this is a year of weddings for us," Jen Jackson said. "Ethan and I are getting married this summer."

"And so are Conner and I," Chelsea Matthews said.

"So, keep this in mind, we aren't playing couples like we did a few years ago, but we do have couples in mind," Jason said. "So, the third place winner of the contest, if eligible, will win tickets to next year's Price is Right Valentine's Day show, which I assume will be taped next February some time. In addition, you'll win two all-tournament passes to the Pac-12 basketball tournament next March in Las Vegas."

"Now for the second prize," Tommy said. "With the Mayweather vs Pacquiao fight upcoming, we thought it might be a nice tie in. So, the winner of the second prize, depending on the couple who this person is associated with, wins dual bachelor and bachelorette parties at the MGM Grand in Vegas, and also wins tickets to the Mayweather vs Pacquiao fight."

"And now for the first prize," Jason said. "The winner of this competition, depending on the couple, will receive an all-expenses paid, seven night stay in Hawaii. The time and place can be your choice, if it happens to be one of the couples getting married you can make that your honeymoon. If it's a specific anniversary, you can make it then too."

"Now, we should have done this last year when we had everyone here at once," Jason continued, "but I think we should draw a line in the sand. Everyone's picks, right here right now. Tommy we'll save you for last since that's the one everyone's waiting on."

"As much as I hate to say it, Kentucky," Bailey said (and received boos). "No one is beating them, no one."

"Come on Bailey, you hate Kentucky for heaven's sake. Arizona all the way," Cody said as he was met with applause from Wes and Eric. "They smother people. UK hasn't played anyone like them."

"Duke," Maya said, which also got thunderous boos.

"Wisconsin, in tribute to Moseby," Woody said.

"Duke," Addison said.

"Gonzaga," Zack Martin said.

"St. John's," Marcus said which caused everyone to laugh. "SIKE! No really, we'll lose to SDSU. I'll take Virginia."

"Kentucky," London said, which got more of a hearty chuckle than anything.

"Oklahoma," Hayley said which caused everyone to laugh. "No, I'm just kidding too. We may make the Final 4 or lose to Albany. I hate it, but I'm going Duke."

"On Wisconsin," Ethan said.

"I hate picking a Pac-12 school, but Arizona," Billy said.

"The impossible dream; Hoiball and Iowa State," Justin said.

"Hate to say it, but Kentucky," Katherine said.

"Well, I can't pick Arizona, Pac 12 school. I can't pick Kentucky, obvious reasons. I can't pick Duke, Conner is a fan of theirs," Carlos said. "And I can't pick Wisconsin since the Ducks will probably lose to them. That leaves me one option; Villanova."

"I'm with you on all that except for the team," Cassie said. "I'm taking Gonzaga."

"Thank you very much, Zack Martin and Cassie," Crystal said. "You know where I stand. Go Zags; this IS our year."

"Bear Down all the way. It's our time," Eric said.

"I worry about Wisconsin before Kentucky but yes, Bear Down as well," Wes said.

"Kentucky, as much as I hate it," Andros said.

"Duke," Ashley said.

"Duke," Karone said.

"Make it a second one for Villanova," Zhane said.

"BYU; nope just kidding," Lindsey said. "In all seriousness, I got Wisconsin."

"I want to pick Wisconsin, Big 10 and all but this year I think it's Arizona," Melissa said. "Brandon Ashley is the difference; they'll win this time. Over Duke in the Finals."

At that point each of the Small School Six (Trent, Kira, Chelsea, Jen Jackson, Anton and Elsa), as they were known stood up at once.

"Northern Iowa," they all said at once.

"In solidarity of small schools everywhere," Elsa said.

"Kentucky," Cassidy said.

"Yep, Kentucky as well," Devin said. "I would consider picking Duke but they'll probably beat SDSU so not picking them to win."

"I loathe Kentucky," Ernie said. "But I think they'll win too."

"Bucky's Badger, JJ Watt's alma mater, Wisconsin," Stone said. "The only team that I think has a legit chance to knock out UK."

"Any team that beats New Mexico State, so Rock Chalk Jayhawk," Bulk said.

"Arizona," Skull said. "We may have to face Kentucky in our region and I hate them, plus I won't pick Duke ever either. So give me Arizona."

"Wisconsin," Aisha said.

"I hate Kentucky, but they'll win," Rocky said.

"I hate picking any Pac school but I think they've got the goods; Arizona," Jason said.

"I'm rolling with Justin believe it or not. Give me Hoiball," Tanya said.

"No way, Kentucky's got it lock and key…and I hate them too but no one's beating them," Zack Taylor said.

"Got burned by the Badgers once, so no. Pick Kentucky, no chance. Arizona, no way. That leaves me one option; Duke," Trini said.

"Bear Down, Arizona," Phil Savitt said. "Anyone but UK."

"How about a little out there pick; Baylor," Adam said.

"Not as out there as Northern Iowa," Hayley said. "In all seriousness, Baylor's a good team. Tough region though."

"I don't like them but I think they'll win; Arizona," TJ said. "Anyone but Kentucky."

"I finally feel we have the team that can do it again. Go Duke!" Conner said which received raucous boos.

"Arizona wins it all," Kimberly said.

"Well, we saved you for last, bro, for good reason," Jason said. "What's it gonna be?"

"Well, I'm going to put my jinx to the ultimate test," Tommy said. "Because the way I look at it is this; if they win I won't be happy but I'd have a shot to win the grand prize at least. And if they lose, well I'd be pretty happy there too and I'll just know I'm forever jinxed. Long story short, give me Kentucky. But I'll be hoping like hell they lose."

"Good stance to take," Jason said. "Go with the safe pick, hope like hell they lose but if they win you'll have a shot to win it all. And you have to admit, they are the overwhelming favorite and rightly so."

"With that said, this meeting is adjourned," Kimberly said.

And as the group all left the Youth Center, a lone figure stood in the shadows watching them all, but in particular Wes.

"You still make me proud, Wes," the lone figure said. "Bear Down, and perhaps some day soon we will see each other again."

TBC…


	2. 2: First Week, and Weekend Setup

A/N: Hey, what do you know, it's March once again, ladies and gentlemen. And you know what that means, it's time for Pink BracketBuster No. 8. Call it the honeymoon/wedding/anniversary edition if you like. Couples teamed up in a previous one for a cruise, but this one involves honeymoons/anniversary trips, and other prizes as well. Here is the weeklong setup for the first week.

A/N 2: I own nothing. PBB Universe belongs to psav2005, and I don't own the Suite Life or Power Rangers universes either. I do own Melissa Blanks though.

Chapter 2: First Week (and Weekend) Setup

**BYU – Tuesday in Dayton vs Ole Miss (Lindsey's school)**

**Iowa State – Thursday in Louisville vs UAB (Justin and Tanya's pick)**

**Baylor – Thursday in Jacksonville vs Georgia State (Adam's pick)**

**Arizona – Thursday in Portland vs Texas Southern (Wes and Eric's school, Kimberly, TJ, Phil, Jason, Skull, Melissa, Wes, Eric, Billy and Cody's pick)**

**UCLA – Thursday in Louisville vs SMU (Jason, Tommy, Rocky and Aisha's school)**

**Villanova – Thursday in Pittsburgh vs Lafayette (Carlos and Zhane's pick)**

**Kentucky – Thursday in Louisville vs Hampton (Tommy, Zack Taylor, Rocky, Ernie, Cassidy, Devin, Andros, Kat, London and Bailey's pick)**

**Kansas – Friday in Omaha vs New Mexico State (Bulk's pick)**

**Northern Iowa – Friday in Seattle vs Wyoming (Trent, Kira, Chelsea, Jen Jackson, Anton, Elsa's pick)**

**Virginia – Friday in Charlotte vs Belmont (Marcus' pick)**

**Maryland – Friday in Columbus vs Valparaiso (Skull's school)**

**Oregon – Friday in Omaha vs Oklahoma State (Carlos and Cassie's school)**

**Duke – Friday in Charlotte vs Robert Morris/North Florida (Conner, Trini, Karone, Ashley, Hayley, Addison and Maya's pick)**

**Wisconsin – Friday in Omaha vs Coastal Carolina (Aisha, Lt. Stone, Lindsey, Ethan and Woody's pick)**

**Gonzaga – Friday in Seattle vs North Dakota State (Zack Martin, Crystal and Cassie's pick, Crystal's school)**

**San Diego State – Friday in Charlotte vs St. John's (San Diego State is Cassidy and Devin's school, St. John's is Marcus and London's school)**

TBC…


	3. 3: First Weekend Reactions

A/N: First weekend reactions. Some great games, and now it's time to see how everyone did.

A/N 2: Nothing is mine, except Melissa Blanks.

Chapter 3 – First Weekend Reactions

**Tuesday, Mar. 17**

**9:30 p.m. local time**

**Anaheim, CA**

**"And it's all over! Ole Miss completes the comeback from 17 points down and defeats BYU 94-90. They will now move on to face the Xavier Musketeers in Jacksonville."**

Lindsey Stewart sat there, still stunned by the whole thing. BYU had the game in control, but had surrendered 62 second half points and Ole Miss would be advancing, not BYU.

"62 points in the second half, wow; that game appeared to be over," Justin said. "I just hope this isn't an omen."

"I don't think ISU will lose to UAB Thursday, but that game that just ended gives me some really bad vibes. I think you'll eventually regret being so confident in the Cyclones," Lindsey said.

"Yeah but I think Hoiberg should have them ready," Justin said. "We'll see Thursday."

**Thursday, Mar. 19**

**11:30 a.m.**

**Angel Stadium**

**Anaheim, CA**

**"UAB inbounds the ball and this one is over! A school which saw its football program go by the wayside has pulled off a stunner of epic proportions! The final here, UAB 60, and Iowa State 59."**

Now it was Justin's turn to be stunned. He had been able to watch the Iowa State/UAB game before he had to go into a meeting, and couldn't have been more surprised if Divatox had showed up right there in the stadium.

"Well, I guess I'm not going to be picking them for quite some time," Justin said.

Just then, he got a text from his wife, which said, 'I don't know why, but like I said Tuesday, I just had this terrible feeling.'

And Justin shook his head, remembering those fateful words she said a couple of nights before.

Right about that time, here came the deluge of tweets from the Pac-12 schools. Amongst the highlights were:

**'Sorry you picked a team that lost to a school that doesn't even have football.'**

**'What were you thinking with that pick?'**

**'Don't you know Big 12 teams always choke in the tournament?'**

**"That's what you get for picking a team from Iowa.'**

It was all he could do to have a stiff upper lip as he went to an afternoon meeting.

**Same time**

**Green and Yellow Records**

**Los Angeles, CA**

"Man, what happened?" Tanya said; like Justin, she was stunned. She'd watched Iowa State come from behind several times in the Big 12 tournament, and thought maybe they could carry it over; it was a large part of why she'd picked ISU to win it all.

"I think they played like they were too cool for UAB," Adam said. "It's one thing to come out cocky, it's another thing to play like they did."

**Approximately 2:50 p.m.**

**Green and Yellow Records**

**"Here comes Georgia State, under 10 seconds to do, down 56-54 to Baylor. RJ Hunter with six, now five seconds to go, fires a three….GOOD! He hit it from NBA range and Georgia State, on a 13-0 run takes the lead 57-56 with 2.7 seconds left!"**

Now it was Adam's turn to be stunned. His pick in the tournament appeared to have this game well in hand, up 56-44 with time running out and yet saw RJ Hunter and Georgia State rally from 12 down to take a one point lead. Now, he had to hope for a miracle.

**"There's the inbound, Taurean Prince to midcourt, fires it up…NO GOOD! And Georgia State shocks Baylor and will move on to Saturday, 57-56!"**

For about five minutes, Adam sat in his chair, still stunned. Just like that, his pick to win it all went from being safely into the next round to being out of the tournament altogether.

"Double whammy," Tanya said. "I'm sure Justin feels both of our pain."

"Have to remember next time that Big 12 teams almost never make it deep into the tournament, except Kansas sometimes," Adam said.

**1:20 p.m. PDT**

**Silver Hills, CA**

**"Tournament favorite Arizona has no problems with 15 seed Texas Southern; final score the Wildcats 93-72 over the Tigers."**

Wes and Eric high fived and simply said, "One," knowing that Arizona's work was far from finished. Despite being a highly touted team, Arizona had a history of mysteriously collapsing in the tourney. They wanted badly to make it up to Portland, but as it turned out Mr. Collins had a lot of work that needed to be done, so Eric and Wes had elected to stay in Silver Hills and take care of business.

"Who do we want next?" Eric said.

"Ohio State, of course," Wes said. "I want to beat their asses first and foremost. O-H!"

"N-O!" Eric responded, with both having learned that cheer from Phil.

**Seattle, Washington**

"Well, they didn't have any problems there," TJ said. "Don't like them but they played well. Still wish we could have brought Wes and Eric to Portland, but I guess Mr. Collins had other ideas."

"Yeah, they looked good," Crystal said. "I still gotta stick with my Zags, but no doubt UA has the goods. They certainly did what Baylor and ISU should have done."

**Green and Yellow Records**

**Los Angeles**

"Well, that was easy," Kimberly said. "Unfortunately, since Arizona's a Pac-12 rival for most of these guys we have to keep it down."

"Yeah, I know, but we got to root for them hard because they're the only team that can take down UK," Phil said.

"I agree. Hope they inflict the same punishment on Ohio State that they did today," Kim said, as she texted Billy with the results.

"They will. OSU is going to get rolled Saturday and it will be awesome," Phil said.

**Reefside High School**

"Little to no issues for the Cats there," Melissa said. "Now, can't wait to see them whoop up on Overrated State this Saturday."

**Hayley's Cyberspace**

"As much as I hate it, they played well," Jason said as he briefly glanced at the score that popped up during the UCLA/SMU game.

**Bulkmeier's**

**Angel Grove, CA**

"Even though they may still win, it does my soul good to not pick UK," Skull said. "Even better is that Arizona's probably on the short list of teams that could beat them. They showed why today."

**Yale University**

**New Haven, CT**

"Ah, good; I come home from getting a snack and find out Arizona kept their lead and won big," Cody said (he'd watched the first half, then, as he said, he left) as his watch chimed. To his surprise, when he pressed the button, he found the face of Jennifer Scotts on the other end of the call.

"Well, this is certainly unexpected," Cody said. "Bailey's still in class, but I saw the score. I understand you're at the games?"

"Yep, boss gave me the weekend off because he's an OSU fan and took us both up to Portland," Jen said. "Their game will start in 30 minutes. The Cats need to play them and beat them; my boss hasn't shut up since the game two years ago at Staples. Team played well today though."

"I take it you got a communicator as well?" Cody said.

"Yeah, your friend Billy made me a communicator just like everyone else," Jen said. "You going to watch our game Saturday against Ohio State?"

"Yeah, Woody's going to be watching that one; he's from Cleveland," Cody said. "I kind of hope it's Arizona and OSU as well."

"We actually got on TV for a bit thanks to a shot of us during a postgame interview," Jen said.

"Oh, neat," Cody said. "Granted, some of the gang here probably didn't see it as they're either working or watching other games. Well, I'll check you later, Bailey just texted me and I need to pick her up."

"OK then, Cheers, Cody," Jen said.

**Approx. 2:15 PDT**

**Hayley's Cyberspace**

**Reefside, CA**

**"Time winding down, less than 15 seconds left, Alford puts it up for three…off the rim, rebound to SMU, and what's this…they called GOALTENDING! UCLA takes the lead on a bizarre play!"**

Instantaneously, every one of the UCLA four stood up and cheered while every other person in the bar booed like crazy.

"Bullshit, bullshit, bullshit!" came the chant as SMU missed on their final chance and UCLA ended up advancing.

"Man, how many gifts can UCLA get?" Stone said. "That joke of an 11 seed and now this bullshit call."

"Deal with it, we're moving on," Tommy said. "U-C!"

"L-A!" Jason, Aisha and Rocky said.

**7:50 p.m. CDT**

**Omaha, Nebraska**

**"Top seed Villanova has no problem with the Leopards of Lafayette; they win 93-52."**

"The way they played tonight, they should roll through this bracket," Carlos said as he prepared to leave with Cassie and Melissa to go bar-hopping.

"Beware the early Villanova exit," Cassie said. "Remember Justin went through the same thing with them a few years earlier."

"Yeah, when they lost to St. Mary's in the second game," Carlos said. "It's going to take a lot to beat this Villanova team though."

**Inglewood, CA**

"Nice to see Villanova get the win," Zhane said. "I hope they don't play NC State though."

**9:15 p.m. PDT**

**Hayley's Cyberspace**

**Reefside, CA**

Even though this game was expected to be little more than a scrimmage for the heavily favored and undefeated Kentucky Wildcats, everyone had shown up to Cyberspace for two reasons; one, a large group of the pool, including Tommy, had picked them to win and Tommy's jinx was well known throughout the group.

Not all of the Kentucky Ten were present, as Bailey was in New Haven, London was in Boston visiting her dad on spring break, and Cassidy and Devin had flown to Charlotte for the San Diego station news reports.

The second, and maybe more obvious reason that a lot had shown up, was that of the last four games this night, the Kentucky game was the only one where anyone had any stake involved.

**"And as expected, the undefeated Wildcats roll over the Pirates of Hampton, your score tonight, Kentucky 79, Hampton 56."**

There was little celebration by Tommy; after all, this was one pick he hoped would blow up in his face, but he'd live with it if Kentucky won.

"Well, I hate them, but I picked them and they did what they had to do," Ernie, another of the Kentucky Ten as they were being known, said.

"Yeah, probably could have won by 40 if they wanted. Cheatapari probably could have played the backups and still won by 20," Zack Taylor said.

"Bailey just texted me, and London," Rocky said. "And she said, I hate them, but I won't mind if they win as I picked them to do so."

"That's pretty much my stance as well," Kat said, and every one of the Kentucky Ten nodded.

**Friday, Mar. 20, 2015**

**11:20 a.m. PDT**

**Bulkmeier's**

**Angel Grove, CA**

**"And there was no trouble for the Jayhawks in their first game, as they roll past New Mexico State 75-56."**

"Good," Bulk said. "Bye bye, stupid Aggies."

With that said, he pressed a button on his watch and on the other end, Bailey's face appeared momentarily.

"Good afternoon, Bulk," she said. "I trust you were happy with that outcome?"

"Very much so," Bulk said. "At least you guys beat the Aggies and sent them home."

"Yeah but the Hawks have to buckle up now," Bailey said. "I REALLY hope Indiana wins this next game and not just because Marshall is a loudmouth punk of a coach. I feel we'd have a much better matchup against IU than against the Shockers."

"Yeah, I hear ya," Bulk said. "But I had to pick Kansas because anyone who beats NMSU is good by me."

"Ha, you know I feel the same way about Missouri," Bailey said. "Their basketball season was a complete trainwreck, 9-23 and I loved it."

**12:50 p.m. PDT**

**Hayley's Cyberspace**

**Reefside, CA**

**"Wyoming's Cinderella run comes to an end, as Northern Iowa moves on to the next round with a 71-54 victory."**

The Small School Six, who had taken the day off to watch the games, nodded their heads in approval.

"I must say, this Northern Iowa team can go far," Anton said.

"Yeah and with any luck, they'll make the Cinderella run that happens every once in a lifetime," Chelsea said.

"Louisville's going to be tough the next round though," Kira said. "I'd sort of like to see UCI pull that off but no way they win."

**5:30 p.m. EDT**

**Boston, MA**

**"And it's Virginia with the 79-67 win over the plucky Belmont Bruins, and they will move on to face Michigan State on Sunday."**

"Too much of a scare for my liking," Marcus said. "Don't know what happened to this team early in the year, but if they don't play better than this they won't win Sunday."

**4:00 PDT**

**Bulkmeier's**

**Angel Grove, CA**

**"And a steal by Maryland and that will do it! They got a scare, but the Terps hold on and defeat the Crusaders of Valparaiso 65-62 and will meet the Mountaineers of West Virginia on Sunday."**

Bulk looked over at his partner in crime and said, "Get ready for burning couches."

"Yeah and Huggins and 40 minutes of press," Skull said. "This is a big rivalry coming up. One thing I know for sure; they'll burn couches in Morgantown whether we beat them or not. We're one more win away from playing Kentucky. Go Terps!"

**Approx. 8:00 CDT**

**CenturyLink Center**

**Omaha, NE**

"Ballgame, Ducks!" Cassie said as she high-fived Carlos after the Ducks 79-73 win over Oklahoma State which advanced them into the round of 32 and more than likely another date with the Badgers.

"Oregon played really well tonight," Melissa said, "though I was really hoping for the old Big 8 school to pull it out."

"Nah, I don't like him, he's a former Kentucky coach," Carlos said referring to Travis Ford. "Plus, I don't like that Boone Pickens dude, that donor for Oklahoma State. He seems like a sleaze."

"Yeah but their football coach had the greatest rant of all time," Cassie said.

"Oh, you aren't kidding," Melissa said. "That rant is one of my favorite YouTube bookmarks. He told it like it was. Think you guys will be ready for Wisconsin Sunday?"

"Hope so, we should be familiar with them enough," Carlos said.

**6:10 p.m. PDT**

**Hayley's Cyberspace**

**Reefside, CA**

**"No issues for Duke in their first game, as they defeat Robert Morris 85-56 and advance on to Sunday."**

Five of the Duke Seven, as they were known for this tournament, had gathered for the Duke game at Cyberspace and Hayley had closed down the bar too, as she'd help set up a Skype chat with two of the UConn Four, Addison and the Green Ninja Ranger, Maya, who were emanating from Boston.

"I know you guys don't like Duke, but I think you guys made the right pick this time," Conner said. "I wasn't kidding when I said that I thought we were back at the level to where we could have a shot to win the title this year."

"And I think they've proven that the entire year," Ashley said. "No they didn't win either the conference or their conference tournament, but they play in a rugged league where it's hard to do that."

"Yeah, like I said, I'm not going to pick Arizona, and I'm not going to pick Kentucky, and I've been burned by Wisconsin and Villanova is weak," Trini said. "That leaves Duke the best option out of the rest, as much as I hate it."

"I just hope St. John's wins this next game," Conner said. "San Diego State is a solid team. And yes, Villanova is weak. Watch NC State beat them tomorrow."

"Wow. Bold prediction there," Maya said. "I've seen Villanova play and they're solid."

**8:28 p.m. PDT**

**Angel Grove Juice Bar**

**Angel Grove, CA**

Much like Hayley's Cyberspace, Lt. Stone and Ernie had set the Juice Bar up for the Wisconsin contingent to watch this game. Four of the Wisconsin quintet were in attendance, with Woody on Skype from Boston.

**"Badgers with no trouble tonight; the top seed in the West Region cruises past the Chanticleers of Coastal Carolina 86-72."**

"Not much trouble there," Lt. Stone said. "At least we won't have to worry about the loudmouth Ducks fans being here Sunday."

"Yeah, I don't want to be around mouthy Oregon fans on Sunday when we reconvene," Aisha said.

"Yeah, they'll be in Omaha…to see their team lose," Woody said.

"Speaking of lose, are your Buckeyes ready to make Arizona cry?" Stone said to Woody over Skype. That got a chuckle from most of the group.

"Oh, God, I'd love to pick this team, but this year has gone to hell in a handbasket," Woody said. "I'd love us to beat U of A, but the year hasn't turned out like Buckeye fans hoped. It would take a lot for us to win that one."

"Probably, but I'll be hoping," Stone said. "Forks up, baby."

**11:55 p.m.**

**Time-Warner Cable Arena**

**Charlotte, NC**

**"And San Diego, you can party on as your Aztecs move on to meet mighty Duke. The final tonight, the Aztecs 76-64 over St. John's. For Devin Del Valle, this is Cassidy Cornell for News 4 San Diego, good night everybody."**

Right as they signed off, they heard their watches chime and found a private place. On the other end was Marcus.

"Congrats," Marcus said. "Now go beat Duke."

"We'll see what we can do but Duke is lethal," Cassidy said. "It's going to take a lot to beat them."

**9:10 p.m. PDT**

**Key Arena**

**Seattle, WA**

"Well, that was a good game," Crystal said as she and TJ filed out of Key Arena after Gonzaga's 86-76 win over North Dakota State. "But our season truly begins Sunday."

"Yeah, because the Zags have a history of losing early in the tournament," TJ said. "And Iowa is a hot team."

"Yeah we shouldn't lose that game, but I'm cautiously optimistic," Crystal said. "Too many early exits take its toll."

**Just outside CenturyLink Center**

**Omaha, NE**

"Good to see," Cassie said when she saw the Gonzaga score. "Looks like they'll play Iowa."

"They'll beat Iowa," Melissa said. "Iowa doesn't have near enough to go out there and beat Gonzaga in their home state."

**Saturday, Mar. 21, 2015**

**Hayley's Cyberspace**

**Reefside, CA**

It was a Tommy Oliver Saturday at the Cyberspace…and what could be meant by that?

Because Tommy's school, UCLA, and Tommy's pick to win the tournament, Kentucky, would be playing back-to-back and most of the group would be watching.

**11:20 a.m. PDT**

**"Some people said they shouldn't have been in this field…and yet here they are in the Sweet 16! The final score, UCLA 92 and UAB 75 and they are headed for Houston on Friday!"**

"U-C!" Tommy and Jason said.

"L-A!" Rocky and Aisha responded.

"Losers!" every other Pac-12 alum in the room responded. "Shouldn't have been in and then got a bullshit call!"

"Sweet 16!" Jason responded.

"Gonna try to get tickets for Houston?" Aisha said.

"Depends on whether I have contacts who can get me tickets or not," Tommy said. "If I can't get there, you know I'll be here Friday."

"Go Zags!" every other Pac-12 alum said to which the UCLA four booed loudly.

**2 p.m. PDT**

**"Cincinnati tried their best but in the end it was not enough. The final in this one, Kentucky 64, Cincinnati 51 and Kentucky moves to the Sweet 16 in Cleveland!"**

"Sorry, Phil. Good try," Kim said to her manager as the majority of the Kentucky Ten shared some brief handshakes before leaving the premises as the Arizona Ten awaited their match with Ohio State. "Cincy gave it a good go."

"I knew we weren't going to win that game unfortunately," Phil Savitt said. "Not enough offense. At least we won a tournament game this year though. Hopefully Huggy Bear can pull a miracle."

"No jinx today," Tommy said as he filed out of Cyberspace. "Next up, Maryland or West Virginia."

"Yep, pretty sure we'll all be back here Thursday night for that one," Kat said.

**4:30 p.m.**

**"After a tight first half, the Wildcats of Arizona pull away from the Buckeyes and they are headed back to the Sweet 16 in Los Angeles! The final here from Portland is Arizona 73, Ohio State 58."**

"Hell yes!" Wes said as he high fived Eric. "Two."

"Two," Eric responded, knowing that all the win did was keep Arizona's improbable quest alive.

"O-H!" Wes, Kim, Phil, Melissa and Skull said

"N-O!" Eric, Jason, Billy, TJ and Cody (via Skype) responded.

"Good to see we finally get that cheer right," Phil said. "Now they gotta beat Xavier; I grew up a UC fan and I hate them."

"Won't be a problem," Eric said. "We're rolling and we beat Ohio State without some of our best players on top of their game."

"Yep, once Stanley Johnson, Hollis-Jefferson and Ashley are on point we are that much better," Wes said.

"I'll have class Thursday night, but I'll try to be in contact for that game. Have fun at Staples," Cody said as he suddenly heard something and realized what it was. "Sorry guys, I gotta take a call. See ya later."

"See ya, Cody," Kim said as she shut down the Skype chat. "Well, I guess that's it for today, guys."

**New Haven, CT**

Cody nodded. He knew because of what was going on that he had to shut down the Skype chat because of who was on the other end of the call on his watch.

Cody nodded as he saw the face of Jen Scotts…live from the Moda Center in Portland…come up on the other end of the call.

"That sufficient enough bragging rights for you?" Cody said.

"Yeah, today was great, although it's not really that much fun beating OSU when you're the favorite to do so. Their fans are morons and it's good to beat them any time, but when you're the favorite it's not quite as much fun," Jen said. "Still my Gamma Phi Beta sisters and I had a great time this week; fun games. Plus, I got bragging rights back."

"Are you going to be able to get to the games in LA?" Cody said.

"Not sure, as my boss may have me sequestered in the office extra this week considering what we just did to his team," Jen said. "And we didn't even play that well."

"Yeah but when the Cats get their top players going they'll be unstoppable," Cody said. "Even for Kentucky."

"Oh, I want Kentucky bad. I'm hoping they make it to Indy because when we make it, I'll be there to witness history defeated," Jen said. "But we have to beat Wisconsin first."

**Approx. 7:30 p.m. CDT**

**Omaha, NE**

**"Josh Hart will inbound the basketball with Villanova down three…and his pass is intercepted! And that's it; the NC State Wolfpack, as is their history, survive and advance as an underdog! The final tonight, the Wolfpack 71, Villanova 68 and the Pack will advance to the Sweet 16!"**

"Good try Carlos," Melissa said. "Unfortunately, Villanova hadn't played anyone all year. I see why you did what you did though."

"Yeah, would never pick a Pac rival, won't pick Duke and Kentucky, that left me Villanova," Carlos said. "Too bad I'm out now."

"It's too bad Creighton had such a terrible year," Melissa said, lowering her voice as she knew she was in Omaha, not just her hometown but the hometown of Creighton. "The Big East was terrible in part because of that. NC State was more ready for this type of game and it showed."

**Inglewood, CA**

"Well, I guess that's the last time I'm picking Villanova for a while," Zhane said as Karone nodded her head. "Hope Duke wins it now."

**Sunday, Mar. 22, 2015**

**Angel Grove Juice Bar**

**Angel Grove, CA**

It was an ACC Sunday morning as seven different people had gathered at Angel Grove's Juice Bar…set up by an ACC grad himself, Ernie…to watch the first two games of the day. To add a little spice to the mix, Marcus and London had made it back to Jamaica and a Skype chat had been set up between four of the Duke Seven (Hayley was busy at Cyberspace, while Addison and Maya would join later for the Duke game) and Marcus, who had picked Virginia in the early game.

**11:20 a.m. PDT**

**"And that will do it; it wouldn't be a Sweet 16 without the Michigan State Spartans. For the seventh time in the last eight years, Tom Izzo's squad advances to the second weekend by knocking Virginia out for the second straight year. The final today is 60-54, the Spartans win it."**

Marcus sat there dejected, his pick out on just the second game.

"Well, I guess that's it huh?" Marcus said. "Too bad; they had a great year for about 90 percent of the season."

"The Justin Anderson injury really hurt them, Marcus," Conner said. "I said it a week ago that I was scared of this game; UVA is not the same team that played Duke early in the year. It isn't even close."

"Correct, and they got stuck with a terrible seven seed. Michigan State's a team you can always pencil into the Sweet 16. Bracket makers did them no favors," Trini said.

**Approx. 2 p.m. PDT**

**"Duke cruises into the Sweet 16; the final today, Duke 68-49 over San Diego State."**

"Let's Go Duke! Let's Go Duke! Let's Go Duke!" Conner said which made everybody, including those who had picked Duke, groan. They'd rather enjoyed the silence over the last few years with regards to the Duke program from Conner; now they were back and he was just as mouthy as he was before.

"Like Trini said, I wouldn't want them to win under normal circumstances, but because of some of the other teams in the tournament, got to grin and bear it," Ashley said. "They have the goods as they showed today."

"Yeah that's a solid SDSU team and they got their asses kicked," Karone said. "Duke is definitely lethal this year. Utah's legit though."

"Yeah, Arizona beat Utah twice, but Utah's a legit team. They kind of slumped at the end of the year, but now appear to have their mojo back," Wes, who had come with Eric to cheer against Duke, said. "That will not be a gimme game for Duke."

"Utah's good, but I think Duke's on its way," Maya (who was back in Storrs now) said. "Remember the last time they won the title the last four games they played were in Houston and Indianapolis."

"Not a gimme for sure, but we can beat anybody," Conner said. "Finally we are at that level again."

"By the way Conner, nice call on NC State," Eric said. "I had Villanova from that region but it was apparent that the competition they faced this year wasn't up to par."

"Yeah, NC State's a complete wild card. Depends on which team shows up night to night," Conner said. "They lost to BC, but beat Duke and won at Carolina and Louisville. On a good night, they can play with most of the good teams."

**Approx. 4:30 p.m. PDT**

**Bulkmeier's**

**Angel Grove, CA**

**"And in Omaha, the Shockers take another step forward in the evolution of their program as they once again qualify for the Sweet 16 by becoming the Kings of Kansas. The final today, Wichita State 78, Kansas 65."**

As he went back to work, Bulk shook his head in disbelief, his pick having been dispatched. Rarely had he seen a team like Kansas get bullied like that, much less from Wichita State.

"I can just imagine, Bailey's probably wanting to break something back East," Bulk said. "Hopefully Cody calms her down. Not even the best team in Kansas, much less the nation."

**CenturyLink Center Omaha**

Meanwhile, live at the CenturyLink Center, the trio of Melissa Blanks, Cassie and Carlos continued to watch the Shocker fans celebrate as they awaited the start of the Wisconsin/Oregon game.

"Man, can you imagine how Bailey's feeling," Carlos said. "They just got beat by a team they haven't played in forever."

"Yeah it's not going to be a good time to be a Kansas fan; not until they get that revenge on the Shockers anyways. I've said it before but I almost went to KU. Genuinely feel sorry for them that they somehow experience exiting the tourney every year," Melissa said.

**6:10 p.m. PDT**

**Key Arena**

**Seattle, WA**

"Two down!" Crystal Johnson said as Gonzaga wrapped up a berth in the Sweet 16 in Houston with an 87-68 rout of Iowa; there would be no early exit for the Zags this time.

As Crystal and TJ filed out of Key Arena to head to the airport and go back to California, she got a chime on her watch from Zack Martin.

"Girl that was awesome," Zack said. "They really put it to that chump team."

"Yeah, it's nice to be in the second weekend and not some early exit again," Crystal said. "Now comes the game I've been waiting for since 2006. We need some revenge bad."

"I still remember that," Zack Martin said. "The ghost of Adam Morrison will hopefully work his magic for this one."

"And I'll be there to clash with the UCLA four for all of it," Crystal said. "I want revenge…bad."

"Cassie just texted me from the Wisconsin/Oregon game. She saw the score," Zack Martin said.

**6:00 p.m. PDT**

**The Cyberspace**

**Reefside, CA**

Much like what had happened the previous days, Hayley had closed the bar again for the gathering to watch the Wisconsin/Oregon game, as well as the Northern Iowa/Louisville game (she was in the back watching the Oklahoma game). And much like before, there was a Skype chat setup, this time for Woody (emanating from Storrs this time) as he was one of the Wisconsin Five for this tournament.

**Two hours later**

**"It was a battle once again, but the Badgers once again survive the scare from Oregon. The final in this one, Wisconsin 72 and Oregon 65."**

The Wisconsin Five breathed a deep sigh of relief as the game had been close throughout, but in the end the Badgers had been able to pull away and return to California for another trip to the Sweet 16.

"Too close for comfort, both of the last two years they've played Oregon," Aisha said.

"Yeah, but the win is all that matters," Woody said. "Two down, and there's four more to go. Next up, North Carolina."

"North Carolina won't beat them…too inconsistent," Lindsey said. "Then it's on to the rematch with Arizona."

**CenturyLink Center Omaha**

"Damn Badgers again," Cassie groused. "Two years in a row. I can't believe I'm saying this but I hope Arizona beats them."

"Yeah I'd never root for a Pac-12 school under normal circumstances but I can't rest easy until Wisconsin gets beat," Carlos said. "Really, it's anybody but Kentucky from here on since Villanova is out."

**Approx. 9:00 p.m. PDT**

**Bulkmeier's**

**Angel Grove, CA**

**"And that will do it; the West Virginia Mountaineers move on to the Sweet 16. The final tonight from Columbus is West Virginia 69, Maryland 59."**

"Tough end, but this was a great season for the Terps," Bulk said.

"Yeah, but it sucks to lose to the Couch Burners," Skull said. "I hope Kentucky beats their ass by 20, then loses after that."

**Approx. 10 p.m. PDT**

**The Cyberspace**

**Reefside, CA**

**"And for Louisville and Rick Pitino, it's back to the Sweet 16 for the fourth consecutive year. The final tonight, Louisville 66, Northern Iowa 53."**

Once again, the Small School Six sighed as they saw their Missouri Valley pick get dashed in the second round.

"I really, REALLY hate the two Kentucky schools…both of them," Kira sighed. "Kentucky did this to our pick last year and now this."

"Join the club," Phil said. "You know how I feel about them, I'm from Cincinnati although UL isn't near as bad as UK."

"Yeah but I wouldn't mind seeing Oklahoma win that bracket still," Trent said. "Speaking of, did OU win tonight, Hayley?"

"Yep, Dayton gave us a game but we won 72-66," Hayley said. "We're off to play MSU now. Unfortunately I don't have any connections to get me tickets to the games in Syracuse. Sad to see Kansas go though. Bailey's really sad tonight."

"You talked to her?" Anton said. "How bad is it?"

"Really bad," Hayley said. "She's in Connecticut obviously, but some of her friends are Shockers fans and she's already hearing it."

"I can imagine," Elsa said. "Well the Sweet 16 is set, finally."

"It's weird that unlike last year, we really don't have anything at stake pick wise in all four regions," Hayley said. "Still some very high stakes in those other three regions though."

TBC...


	4. 4: Second Weekend Reactions

A/N: Day of the national semifinals, so time for some second weekend reactions…and a certain Red Ranger plans to get drunk after Arizona loses. There will be an interlude in this story involving Wes and his drinking binge after the Arizona loss… plus a surprise.

A/N 2: Nothing is mine, except Melissa Blanks.

Chapter 4 – Second Weekend Reactions

**Thursday, March 26, 2015**

**Approx. 4:45 p.m. PDT**

**Hayley's Cyberspace**

**Reefside, CA**

One year since 2014, and it seemed the more things changed, the more they stayed the same.

The venue may have been different (Anaheim the previous year, Staples Center this year), but Wisconsin was beginning a West Regional. The only difference was that those who had picked Wisconsin were starting things off in Hayley's Cyberspace (or, joining them via Skype) this year, unlike the previous year at the Honda Center.

Lt. Stone was unable to join the five having duty in Angel Grove that night, so the plan was to hopefully see a Wisconsin win tonight, then hopefully have a party in Angel Grove Saturday with the hope of keeping in touch with Woody at UConn. Plus, Wes and Eric were going to be at Staples Center and none of them, especially Stone, wanted to be around Wildcat fans. Thus, Woody was on Skype this evening, with Aisha, Lindsey and Ethan joining him from Cyberspace. Rumor had it that Conner may show up too, since he wanted to see North Carolina lose.

**Approx. 2 hours later**

**"Wisconsin trailed for much of the game, but in the end, they survive! The final tonight, Wisconsin 79, North Carolina 72 and the Badgers will advance to the Elite Eight to play Arizona or Xavier!"**

"Man, that was NOT easy," Woody said over Skype. "A win is a win though I guess."

"Yeah, I have to give Carolina credit, much as it pains," Conner said. "Glad they lost, but they played a great game. Fortunately, Wisconsin played a little bit better. Carolina's going to be scary next year."

"Have to agree," Aisha said. "If Roy can get them to play 40 every night next year, I look for them to do big things."

"So, Elite Eight, do we want Arizona or Xavier to win?" Lindsey said.

"I don't care, I think the Badgers could beat either one," Aisha said.

"Yeah, I really don't have a preference either," Woody said. "Just going to sit back and hope that's a good game."

**Approx. same time**

**Angel Grove Juice Bar**

**Angel Grove, CA**

Just a little bit up the road, the Kentucky Ten as they were known had gathered (in person or via Skype) to watch the Kentucky/West Virginia game. Knowing that the Wisconsin Five had gathered to watch that game in Reefside and that the Arizona duo was at Staples, the ten had chosen to gather at Ernie's for the game, since he had picked UK himself.

The game was rather highly anticipated, especially since West Virginia player Daxter Miles Jr. had guaranteed a West Virginia upset. For the record, staunch Bob Huggins supporter Phil Savitt was making no such claim, even though he hated UK as well.

**Approx. 2 hours later**

**"It's over and it wasn't even close. Kentucky continues its march to perfection by obliterating West Virginia, 78-39!"**

Even Ernie, the staunchest of UK haters amongst the ten, had enjoyed that rout because of what had happened the week of the game.

"That's what happens when you disrespect a team like that," Rocky said. "I think Huggins will take that kid aside and tell him, never run your mouth like that again unless you can back it up."

"Yeah, The Rock would have laid the smackdown on that dude," Bailey said. "Don't write checks you can't cash."

"I honestly fear a letdown next game though," Zack Taylor said. "They won't be near as sharp next game because they put 100 percent effort into embarrassing that kid and that team."

"Yeah and Notre Dame is a good team," Ernie said. "Guess we'll see what happens Saturday but Notre Dame may need to invite Rudy in for the pregame speech."

**A little while later**

**Staples Center**

**Los Angeles, CA**

"Ballgame, finally," Wes said as Arizona finally put away Xavier 68-60. "Gotta say it, that game was way too scary for my liking."

"Yeah, Xavier played tough, as much as I hate to admit it," Phil (who was the only one there besides Wes and Eric) said as he sent a text to the majority of the Arizona Ten. "Glad they lost, but they made it a lot closer than I'd have liked it to be."

"So here it is again, one year later," Eric said. "Redemption day is Saturday…hopefully. Oh, and three."

"Yes, three but the true test awaits and I'm much more cautious this time. I think we're better with Ashley healthy and in the lineup, but Wisconsin has rolled all through this year too," Wes said. "I won't celebrate until the clock hits zero and we're on top. Cody, your thoughts on this Saturday?"

"Ashley healthy makes the difference; Arizona wins this time," Cody said over his communicator. "I feel it in my bones. I want to see the showdown; Arizona vs Kentucky. Hope we get it after Saturday."

**Friday, March 27, 2015**

**Approx. 4:15 p.m. PDT**

**Hayley's Cyberspace**

**Reefside, CA**

Because of the presence of UCLA in this tournament, Cyberspace was rocking more than usual. Tonight was an unexpected PBB matchup with a surprise Sweet 16 run by UCLA, with them matched up against South 2 seed Gonzaga in Houston. Tommy had tried to get tickets, but had been unable to.

"Two down, four more to go," Jason said, looking at Crystal intently. "After we beat Gonzaga like we did back in 2006, I want Duke."

Everyone laughed at Jason, even the rest of the UCLA four. He was ever the optimist.

"I just hope they play a good game," Tommy said. "If anything, we're fortunate to be in this position. If we advance, that's great too."

**Approx. 2 hours later**

**"The improbable run for UCLA ends here in Houston, as the 2 seed Gonzaga Bulldogs advance to the Elite 8 Sunday! The final score, Gonzaga 74 and Duke 62!"**

Even the other three of the UCLA four laughed at Jason, whose optimism had crashed and burned once again.

"You know what he's going to be like if we win it all some day, right?" Aisha said to Tommy.

"Yeah, I know, he hasn't changed on that point from the second we all got out of UCLA," Tommy said. "They had a good run, all things considered."

"I don't think you'll have to worry about that too much as long as that moron Alford is the coach there," Jen Scotts, who had decided to make a surprise appearance for the games that night, said. "The psychology company I work for is based out of Chicago and thus I know many Big 10 fans, including Iowa fans. Iowa fans hate Steve Alford with a passion."

"And Wisconsin fans?" Tommy said.

"Way better than OSU fans…way better. Know many of them in the office and in my travels. I was upset we lost to them last year but they travel very well and are good people. Of course, they know how to travel to games well since the majority of them are Packer fans too," Jen said. "In comparison, OSU fans are the scum of the Earth."

"Cody informed us you weren't at Staples last night," Tommy said. "Boss keep you sequestered since UA beat OSU?"

"Yep; he tortured me with a whole bunch of work in retaliation…assholes," Jen said. "I hate ASU out of rivalry but the OSU thing is way worse…it's personal. Because their fans make it personal, and what's more, we beat Tempe Normal in football to win the South and of course we own them in hoops."

"Yeah, that's OSU fans for you," Kim, who had accompanied Tommy to Cyberspace, said. "Easily the most dislikeable team in the country, even more so than Florida State."

"Good game, guys," Crystal said. "UCLA had a solid run all things considered."

"Thanks," Aisha said. "Hope you guys beat Utah or Duke."

"Speaking of Duke…" Kim said as the majority of the Duke Seven entered in preparation for their game.

"I think this is the point where we go home," Tommy said. The other three of the UCLA Four nodded as they and Crystal left the premises.

**Approx. two and a half hours later**

**"The Utes gave it their best, but in the end it wasn't enough and Duke advances to play the Zags on Sunday. The final today, Duke 63-57 over Utah."**

"Always good to see a Pac-12 school lose, especially to my pick to win it all," Trini said.

"Yeah, it ended up being a six point final but we were clearly the better team," Conner said. "We'd better buckle up Sunday though, the Zags are a very good team and they know this is the biggest game in the history of their program coming up."

"Yeah, this was the South final that I expected," Karone said. "I think Duke is still better though; no disrespect to the Zags. Duke is in a league above though."

**Saturday, March 28, 2015**

**Approx. 5 p.m. PDT**

**Staples Center**

**Los Angeles, CA**

One year later, different arena, but it was the same forlorn reactions from Wes and Eric as their dream died, to the very same team in the very same round as the previous year.

Phil had, once again, been the only one to accompany the two Arizona fans to Staples for the game and he sent a text to the other Arizona pickers in the group, then left the arena as soon as he could (as he put it, seeing LA Kings banners in the rafters at Staples made him sick to his stomach, and the rest of the Ducks fans felt much the same) and left Wes and Eric to their own devices.

"Man, 85-78, denied again," Eric said. "How could this happen, Wes. This was, TRULY, supposed to be it!"

"I don't know, man, I just don't know. The only thing I do know is that I think it's time to go get drunk off our asses. Maybe take the pain away," Wes said.

"I'd agree, but Taylor wants me to get home and can't keep her waiting," Eric said. "You can go get drunk, but I gotta get home."

**Angel Grove Juice Bar**

**Angel Grove, CA**

Knowing that a certain friend of Ernie's was no fan of UA, the Wisconsin Five had decided to gather via Skype or in person at the Juice Bar, and they all hooted and hollered as the game ended.

Even Melissa let out a wry smile; though her pick had gone down it was to a Big 10 team so she wasn't that upset.

"Channeling my inner Moseby, baby!" Woody said. "Now, who wants some of Kentucky?"

The other four who had picked Wisconsin cheered mightily at that statement, as Aisha let out the groan.

"You just had to mention them, didn't you Woody?" Aisha remarked sarcastically. "Because here they come right now."

**Approx. 8 p.m. PST**

**Angel Grove Juice Bar**

**Angel Grove, CA**

**"That last desperation shot is NO GOOD! And the drive for perfection continues, Kentucky is now 38-0 thanks to surviving their toughest test to date! The Cats move on to the Final Four by surviving Notre Dame, 68-66!"**

"Man, what a game," Zack Taylor said. "I have to hand it to Notre Dame though, they gave it everything they had."

"Yeah, Kentucky hadn't played a team like them, but they survived," Tommy said. "The jinx almost hit again, but not quite."

"That was 80s Ric Flair personified," Rocky said. "Let the other team have their fun for 35 minutes then go home with the win."

"Enjoy it tonight boys," Stone said, "because next Saturday night, Tommy's jinx hits once again. On Wisconsin!"

"I guess he's pretty happy that Arizona lost," Bailey said.

"You think?" Rocky said.

**Sunday, March 29**

**2:00 p.m. PDT**

**Hayley's Cyberspace**

**Reefside, CA**

There may have been two games on the docket that day, but there were only two things that mattered to everyone in Hayley's Cyberspace that day…Duke/Gonzaga, and WrestleMania, and that is why the majority of the 50 or so people in the PBB group were gathered, either via Skype or live at Cyberspace, because of what was to come. And even if any of the group was not at Cyberspace, they were likely watching from wherever they were.

The last thing anyone remembered before the Duke/Gonzaga game started was that Crystal looked at Conner and signaled "just bring it."

To which Conner mouthed, "consider it brought."

**Two hours later**

**"And for the first time since 2010, the Duke Blue Devils are going back to the Final Four! Gonzaga gave it all they had, but in the end it is Duke coming away with the win 66-52. And just like in 2010, the Blue Devils win a regional final in Houston to get to the Final Four in Indianapolis! They will meet Michigan State next Saturday night!"**

As the three Gonzaga pickers looked on in dejection, the Duke Seven as they were known raised their arms in triumph.

"As much as I hate it, congrats to Duke, they deserved it," Crystal said. "Someday, we'll get to that Final Four."

"Hard fought game," Conner said. "Congrats to your Zags for a great season, you just ran into a great team today."

"Thanks, and while it may not be popular, I hope Duke wins it all," Crystal said. "Really, I want anyone but Kentucky but I prefer Duke. I want to say we lost to the champions."

"I've got Duke too so I'll be pulling for them. I want Michigan State to lose because they beat OU," Hayley said. "Hope they win by 30."

"Now, to channel my inner Stone Cold, if everyone is ready for WrestleMania, give me a hell yeah!" Cody said.

"HELL YEAH!" the entire group shouted, and all eyes turned to Hayley.

"Just a moment please," Hayley said as she went to her WWE Network account and pulled up WrestleMania. "Now, everyone grab some popcorn!"

TBC...


End file.
